CHAPTER 21: PLANS AND PROMISES
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Noah's safehouse felt different when we returned together. Less like a hiding place and more like a base of operations. Damon's presence filled the small space with calm authority, and I could see Noah visibly relax as we walked through the door.
"Thank God," Noah breathed, looking between us. "I was about to call in reinforcements."
"We're okay," I assured them, settling onto the couch beside Damon. The simple act of sitting close to him, of not having to hide our connection, felt like a luxury.
"Better than okay," Damon added, his arm coming around my shoulders in a gesture that was both protective and possessive. "We're figuring this out."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "Just like that? No drama, no angst, no 'how could you lie to me' speeches?"
"Trust me, there will be plenty of drama ahead," Damon said dryly. "But not between us. We're past that now."
My phone buzzed with a text. Rafe again: *Extraction ready. Send coordinates.*
I showed the message to Damon and Noah. "My brothers. They want to get me out."
"Where?" Damon asked.
"Probably Canada. Or Europe. Somewhere the pack treaties don't reach." I stared at the phone, heart heavy. "They've been planning this as a backup since the day I left."
"That's good," Noah said. "You'll be safe."
"We'll be safe," Damon corrected quietly.
I turned to stare at him. "What?"
"You don't think I'm letting you disappear without me, do you?" His smile was gentle but determined. "I told you—we face this together."
"Damon, you can't just abandon your entire life—"
"My entire life is sitting next to me right now." He took my hand, thumb stroking over my knuckles. "Everything else is just details."
"Your family will never forgive you."
"They'll come around. Eventually. And if they don't..." He shrugged. "Then they're not really family, are they?"
Noah was watching this exchange with fascination. "You're really going to do it? Give up everything to run away with her?"
"I'm not giving up everything," Damon said. "I'm gaining everything. There's a difference."
Before I could argue further, my phone rang. Rafe's number.
"Answer it," Damon encouraged. "Let's hear what they're proposing."
I swiped to accept, putting it on speaker. "Rafe?"
"Ari! Thank the Moon you're safe. We heard about what happened at the championship."
"How did you—"
"Lucas has contacts everywhere. Are you hurt? Are you secure?"
"I'm fine. I'm with Noah and..." I glanced at Damon. "And Damon."
A pause. "The Blackwood heir? Ari, please tell me you didn't—"
"He's my mate, Rafe." The words came out stronger than I'd expected. "We're together in this."
Another pause, longer this time. Then Lucas's voice in the background: "Put us on speaker. We need to talk to all of you."
"You're already on speaker," I said.
"Good. Listen carefully, all of you." Lucas's tone was serious. "The situation has escalated beyond what we initially planned for. Dominic has invoked the Ancient Rights."
My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"He's claiming you were kidnapped," Rafe explained. "Says you're being held against your will and that he has the right to retrieve his contracted bride by any means necessary."
"That's ridiculous," Damon snarled. "She came to me—"
"Doesn't matter," Lucas interrupted. "Under the Ancient Rights, he can pursue you across pack territories. He can demand cooperation from local authorities. He can..."
"What?" I pressed when he hesitated.
"He can challenge your mate to an Alpha duel. Winner takes the bride."
The silence that followed was deafening. I felt Damon go rigid beside me, his Alpha instincts rising at the implicit challenge.
"Over my dead body," he said quietly.
"That might be exactly what he's hoping for," Rafe said grimly. "Dominic is older, more experienced, and he's been preparing for this kind of fight his whole life. Plus, he's got nothing to lose—if he wins, he gets his bride back. If he loses... well, he probably won't lose."
"There has to be another way," Noah said. "Some kind of legal challenge—"
"Not under Ancient Rights," Lucas replied. "Those laws supersede everything else. They're older than the modern pack treaties, older than most of our current governments."
I closed my eyes, the weight of centuries pressing down on me. "So what are you saying? That I have to choose between watching Damon die or going back to a marriage I never wanted?"
"We're saying," Rafe said gently, "that we need to get you both out of the country. Tonight. Before Dominic can formally invoke the challenge."
"Running away won't solve this," Damon said, his voice steady despite the tension radiating from his body. "It'll just delay it. And eventually, we'll run out of places to run."
"So what do you suggest?" Lucas asked.
Damon was quiet for a moment, thinking. When he spoke, his voice carried the authority of an Alpha born to lead.
"We don't run. We prepare for war."
"Damon—" I started, but he squeezed my hand.
"Not physical war," he clarified. "Political war. We need allies. We need public support. We need to make this bigger than just one runaway bride and a family dispute."
"How?" Noah asked.
"By telling our story. The real story." Damon's eyes were fierce with determination. "A princess forced into marriage, running away to find freedom. Her mate, willing to challenge tradition to protect her. It's romantic, it's sympathetic, and it puts Dominic in the position of being the villain trying to steal someone else's true mate."
"Public opinion," Lucas said thoughtfully. "It's not a bad strategy."
"It's risky," Rafe warned. "Once you go public, there's no taking it back. You'll be committed to this path completely."
"We're already committed," I said, surprising myself with my certainty. "We crossed that line the moment Carter revealed who I was."
"Then we need media contacts," Noah said, getting excited about the plan. "Someone sympathetic who can help us control the narrative."
"I know someone," Lucas said slowly. "Alexandra Morgan from Pack Politics Weekly. She's been critical of arranged marriages before."
"And I know someone in the Inter-Pack Council," Damon added. "My former professor from the academy. He might be willing to hear our case."
Plans began to take shape around us. Contact lists, media strategies, legal challenges. But underneath it all, I could feel the weight of what we were really talking about.
We were about to take on centuries of tradition, powerful families, and political alliances that had kept the peace for generations.
And we were doing it for love.
"There's one more thing," I said quietly, stopping the planning session. "If we do this—if we really fight this publicly—we need to be prepared for the consequences."
"What kind of consequences?" Noah asked.
"The kind where families disown their children. Where packs split apart. Where centuries-old alliances crumble." I looked around the room at these people who'd become my chosen family. "Are we really prepared to be responsible for that?"
"Aria," Damon said softly, turning to face me fully. "Change is never easy. But sometimes it's necessary. How many other young wolves are trapped in situations like yours? How many mates are kept apart by politics and tradition?"
"We could be starting something bigger than ourselves," Noah added. "A movement toward choice, toward love over duty."
"Or we could be destroying everything our families have built," I countered.
"Maybe," Rafe said from the phone, "it's time for some things to be destroyed. Maybe it's time to build something better."
I looked around the room again—at Noah, who'd spent three years living a lie just to pursue their dreams; at Damon, who'd chosen me over his own brother; at the phone, where my brothers were risking everything to support my choices.
"Okay," I said finally. "Let's do it. Let's change the world."
Damon's smile was radiant. "Together?"
"Together," I confirmed, and kissed him soundly.
In the background, I could hear Lucas gagging dramatically and Rafe laughing. Noah was already pulling out their laptop, ready to start building our revolution.
It was going to be the fight of our lives. But for the first time since this all began, I was looking forward to the battle.
Because I wouldn't be fighting alone.
